Facebook and its Effect on Young Adults in Romantic Relationship
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51333/njpsw.2021.v22.i2.281Keywords:
Social networking, overuse, self-esteem, narcissism, jealousy, attachmentAbstract
Introduction: Facebook, a social networking site, was primarily created to connect people in an online forum, to bridge the distances among people. It has now become an integral part of people's life; especially the young adult population and thus certain questions have been arising revolving around their romantic relationship which is also somehow getting affected by Facebook. Aim: In the present study, the main focus was placed upon how Facebook and overuse of this social networking site have been posing its influence on young adult couples of age 18-25 years, in their romantic relationships with respect to their self-esteem, narcissism, jealousy and attachment pattern. Method: Apart from the general information schedule, Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) was used to differentiate between Facebook addicts and Facebook non-addicts. For assessing the above-mentioned domains, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI-40), Facebook Jealousy Scale and Relationship Structure Questionnaire were used. The statistical package SPSS 10 was used in computing the 't'-test of significance and the mean and SD were used as descriptive statistics. Results: The results revealed Facebook addict females to have significantly higher jealousy than Facebook addict males, while the latter were found to have significantly higher mother avoidance and father avoidance than the former. Facebook addict females were found to have significantly higher self-esteem, jealousy and best friend anxiety than Facebook non-addict females, while Facebook addict males were found to have significantly higher jealousy, father avoidance, mother avoidance, dating partner avoidance, best friend avoidance and best friend anxiety than Facebook non-addict males. Conclusion: Thus, Facebook, other than primarily bridging distances among people, has now been posing its adverse effects on romantic relationships of young adults, which is now a matter of concern in the present era.
Keywords: Social networking, overuse, self-esteem, narcissism, jealousy, attachment
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